Deep Cleaning Your Teeth in Lancaster

Deep cleaning your teeth in Lancaster Texas might sound like something you should do after you’ve missed a few visits to the dentist or eaten a particularly sticky, messy meal. Deep cleaning is a specific procedure performed by your dental hygienist to treat gum and periodontal disease. It’s often completed because a person has not had regular professional cleaning appointments every six months.

The Need for Deep Cleaning in Lancaster Texas

When going to the dentist, the dental hygienist will use an instrument called a probe to measure the area around your teeth to see if you have any pocketing (the area between the tooth and gum where bacteria will form). The depth of the gum tissue between the teeth and gums is called pockets when it is five millimeters or more. The American Academy of Periodontology recommends that every adult receives a periodontal evaluation each year to determine whether additional treatment is needed. Measuring pocket depth is just one part of a comprehensive dental evaluation.

Ideally, normal healthy pockets will be no more than 3 millimeters deep, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). If the pockets are greater than 5 millimeters, your dentist might prescribe a deep scaling and root planing appointment with the dental hygienist.

Is Deep Teeth Cleaning Necessary?

Typically, your dentist will recommend a deep teeth cleaning after examining your teeth and gums and taking X-rays to help assess the overall health of your mouth.

If your gums are diseased or your gingivitis has gotten to the point where they are pulling away from the teeth and creating pockets or spaces that expose the bone that is 5 millimeters deep or more, deep teeth cleaning is often advised as the next step short of actual periodontal surgery.

Be aware that if your gingivitis or other gum problems aren’t resolved, it may progress into periodontitis, which results in the pockets between your teeth and gums becoming so deep, that the bacteria begins to affect the bone and supporting structures of your teeth.

If left untreated, it can even make your teeth lose – loose enough to fall out or require extraction.

Deep teeth cleaning can help reduce the size of the pockets and slow or halt the progression of gingivitis gum disease.

Are the Benefits of Deep Cleaning Teeth in Lancaster Texas?

Deep cleaning in Lancaster Texas teeth helps to prevent gum diseases such as gingivitis from getting worse.

Remember that we all have plenty of bacteria in our mouths, even when we have perfectly healthy teeth and gums.

Plaque forms naturally when those bacteria mix with food and other substances, but normally plaque is removed by regular brushing and flossing.

However, if plaque doesn’t get brushed away, it hardens and turns into tartar, which can only be eradicated by a professional dental cleaning.

If tartar remains on the teeth, it causes gingivitis, the condition where your gums become red and swollen.

If you have gingivitis, your teeth may bleed spontaneously, or when you brush and floss, even if you are being gentle.

Other signs of gum disease include persistent halitosis or bad breath, extra sensitive or increasingly sensitive teeth, loosening teeth, pain when chewing (especially harder or sticky foods), and a receding gum line.

All this is to say that if you have gum disease or inflammation of the gums like gingivitis caused by plaque and tartar build-up between your teeth and gums, a deep teeth cleaning can be a way to banish the build-up and restore your mouth to a healthier state.

How to prepare for your dental deep cleaning in Lancaster Texas

When you make an appointment for  deep dental cleaning, your dentist will ask about your health history. This is because the procedure can release bacteria into your bloodstream. If you had a joint replaced or have a heart condition, liver disease, AIDS, or another illness that may have weakened your immune system, you’re at a higher risk of developing an infection after SRP. If so, your dentist will take extra precautions during the procedure to reduce your risk and will likely prescribe an antibiotic to start before your appointment.

If you take a blood thinner such as Plavix, Eliquis, Warfarin, or Pradaxa, your dentist may recommend that you stop that medication for a few days before the procedure. However, this must be coordinated with the doctor who prescribed the blood thinner—don’t stop one of these medications without consulting them.

We love our patients and love to help them form healthy dental lives that will last them a lifetime. Lancaster Dental is a dental clinic in Lancaster, Bellaire Acres, Westridge, Lancaster North, and Ten Mile Creek Neighborhood we have the best dental services in Texas: General & Cosmetic Dentistry, Crowns & Bridges, Dental Implants, Emergency Services, Teeth Whitening, Pediatric Dentistry, Braces & Invisalign For more information call us to answer all of your questions so get an appointment today.